Ikan Masak Lemak

Bonjour,

It has been quite a long time since I've eaten ikan masak lemak or fish cooked in spicy coconut milk and recently I've been cooking ikan masak lemak by using mackerel fish. Malay cuisine or Malay style cooking sometime used lots of coconut milk, spices and chillies. Different country has a different way to cooked using a different methods.

It's good to have this kind of food once in a while with or without chillies, it still tastes great. For this ikan masak lemak Malay style, some people like the thick gravy and that's really depend on the individual preference.

IKAN MASAK LEMAK

Ingredients;

2 mackerel or any fish
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
A pinch of salt
# Marinade the fish with turmeric and salt for 20 minutes.
3 shallot
2 cloves garlic
5-10 small chillies, optional
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder or fresh
1 lemongrass, smash
1-1 1/2 cup coconut milk
Salt and sugar

METHOD;

- Heat up oil in a saucepan and fry marinated mackerel until the fish cooked. Set aside.
- Using a blender or mortar, blend together shallot, garlic, chillies and turmeric into a fine paste.
- In a medium saucepan, mix the blended paste, lemongrass, and coconut milk, bring to boil for a few minutes or until the sauce slightly thickens.
- Add fish, season with salt or sugar to balance the taste and let it boil for another minutes.

Bon appétit!

Hawflakes Layered Cake

Bonjour,

Layered cakes or kek lapis are traditionally served in Sarawak and this kek lapis Sarawak are so famous throughout Malaysia. When its comes to kek lapis, people knows that Sarawak layered cakes is a colourful cake that comes in different pattern, colour and taste. Sometime I was just wondering how patient the person make a cake that perfectly layered and looks so beautiful, amazing and the cakes looks too pretty to eat!

To be honest, to make Sarawak kek lapis or any layer cake need lots of patience and I am not patient enough to wait the cake done and I can't wait to try it. That's why my hawflakes layered cake was not as pretty as Sarawak layered cake but the taste was good just as what I expected. It seems I need to bake and practice more in the future to make a better layer cake. Recipe I got from Azlita masam manis blog and these cake suppose to be steamed but I baked it. I slightly overcooked the cake and it's a little bit dry.

HAWFLAKES LAYERED CAKE

Ingredients;

5 eggs
225 sugar
220g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
150ml milk/ evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100ml vegetable oil
1 packet hawflakes
Food colouring

METHOD;

- Preheat oven 170° and prepared baking pan, set aside.
- Sift flour and baking powder and mix all ingredients in a mixer bowl except oil, hawflakes and food colouring.
- Beat the batter until light and fluffy.
- Add the oil and fold in with a spatula.
- Divided the batter into 3 or 4 portions. Put any colour of your choice.
- Pour a spoonful one of the batter into prepared baking pan and arrange hawflakes on top.
- Bake for 5-8 minute, take out the pan and pour another coloured batter for second layer and arrange the hawflakes on top.
- Bake for another 5-8 minute and repeat the layers until finish.
- After putting the final layer, bake for 15-20 minutes more or until the cake are fully cooked.
- Let the cake cool before slicing it.

Enjoy baking!

Nyonya Pineapple Tarts

Hey,

Nyonya style pineapple tarts or tat nenas in Malay is one of the must thing have biscuit in many households during Chinese New Year or Eid Mubarak celebration. I've made this pineapple tarts last July and have made again last week. Some Malacca's Nyonya pineapple tarts that we can found in Malaysia are slightly larger is like eating two normal sized pineapple tarts.

Living far away from home just make me miss Malaysian pineapple tarts terribly. So I decided to buy pineapple and make the pineapple jam on my own. Even it takes a little time to cook and prepare this goodies, but its worth it. I've tried two different recipe doughs before that I got it from internet and I prefer the dough with corn flour because the pastry literally melt in your mouth!

There are so many pineapple tarts version we can find in the internet and so far I just made with this two recipe. Perhaps would try another recipe in the future.

NYONYA PINEAPPLE TARTS

Ingredients;

Recipe (1)
150g flour
2 tablespoons corn flour
1 tablespoon icing sugar
100g butter
1 egg york
A pinch of salt
Pineapple jam for filling

Recipe (2)
225 flour
125g butter or margarine
1 egg
1 tablespoon ice water
A pinch of salt
Pineapple filling

Pineapple filling;
2 pineapple
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick

METHOD;

For the pineapple filling;
- Prepare the filling early or one day before.
- Peel pineapple and cut into cubes.
- Using a blender, blend pineapple into puree. Add little bit water if needed.
- Do not adding water for the second time, just use the first puree to mix with others.
- Pour the pineapple puree into a big saucepan or wok, add sugar and cinnamon and cook over medium heat until it thickens and the jam look like a paste. It takes about one hour or more to cook.
- Let the jam cool completely and chill in the fridge before using.
- The pineapple jam can store in the fridge for few weeks or a month.

For the dough;

- Both recipe method for the dough are basically the same.
- Mix flour, sugar, salt and butter, rub in the butter until resembles bread crumbs.
- Add in egg and ice water and lightly combine and gently knead the dough. Do not overwork.
- Wrap dough with cling wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Roll pineapple filling into small ball. Set aside.
- Roll out the dough to desired thickness, cut out with pastry cutter and arrange into baking pan.
- Place pineapple ball onto the centre of each tart shells.
- In other way, roll the dough, place the filling and roll it over. Any shape works well, open faced or enclosed tarts.
- Brush with egg york glaze if desire.
- Bake in the preheat oven 170° for 20-25 minutes or until the tart pastry looked golden brown.

Enjoy the Nyonya pineapple tarts!

Lychee Pudding

Salut,

When I was in Thailand few years ago, I love to eat fresh lychees and other local fruits and almost all the fruits are so cheap especially when they are in season. I saw in some grocery shop sell some lychees but they're so much expensive here.

Thinking of lychees, I bought some canned lychee recently and made lychee pudding with it. This lychee pudding tastes so good, I could even finish it all alone. Simple and easy, yet delicious and refreshing treats.

LYCHEE PUDDING

Ingredients;

4g agar agar powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup evaporated milk
1 can lychee, separated syrup and fruit
Some lychee, cut into small piece

METHOD;

- In a saucepan, mix agar agar powder, sugar and water and bring to boil until sugar dissolved.
- Add in evaporated milk and all lychee syrup and boil for another minute.
- Pour the mixture into glass or jelly pan.
- Arrange some lychee fruit into the pudding and let it cool before transfer to the fridge.

Enjoy the lychee pudding!

Moist Chocolate Cake

Hello,

I love chocolate but I don't really into chocolate cake very much. I like to baked and make chocolate cake, chocolate brownies or any recipe with chocolate. Even sometimes I don't eat much a cake that I've made as long as people around me happy with the tastes, then I'm happy too.

I got this moist chocolate cake recipe from one of Malaysian food blogger, Azlita masam manis. This cake comes out beautifully moist and soft. These cake was great and tasty even without the ganache, but I prefer to put the chocolate ganache on it. All the recipes I have tried from her blog so far turned out great and there are still many recipes that I wanna try in the future.

MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE

Ingredients;

300g flour
100g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
# Mix and sift all dry ingredients
3 eggs
400g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250ml evaporated milk
250ml vegetable oil
250ml hot water

Chocolate ganache;
100g dark cooking chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream

METHOD;

- Preheat oven 170° and prepare baking pan, set aside.
- In a large bowl, hand or stand mixer, beat egg, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
- Add milk and oil and mix well.
- Add flour mixture and use a spatula to gently push the dry ingredients against the wet ingredients.
- Lastly add hot water and mix until everything is well combined.
- Pour the batter into prepare baking pan and bake for 1-1 1/2 hour or until skewer comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely and garnish with chocolate ganache or cream if desire.

For the chocolate ganache;
- Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl.
- Place cream in a small saucepan and bring to boil for a few second.
- Pour over chocolate and stir until chocolate has softened.
- Pour over chocolate cake and let the ganache cool before slicing the cake.

Happy baking!

Malay-Style Fried Spaghetti

Hello,

Finding fresh yellow or rice noodles here is a real challenge and almost impossible. Even if I found it in Asian grocery store, they are often sold frozen and of course its not the same texture and taste anymore. So, the only solution for me whenever I want to eat fried noodles is by using spaghetti. I don't expect they will be the same texture like Malaysian fried yellow noodles, but at least I can be satisfied and sure that it tastes good as well.

MALAY-STYLE FRIED SPAGHETTI

Ingredients;

1/2 packet spaghetti pasta
1 shallot, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 tablespoon chilli paste, optional
1 egg
1 handful bean sprouts
1 tomato, cut into cube or wedges
Tomato ketchup
Light soy sauce
Dark soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD;

- Cook the spaghetti follow the package direction. Set aside.
- Heat up some oil in a work or pan and fry shallot and garlic until fragrant.
- Add chilli paste and fry for a few second.
- Crack the egg let it cook a while before scramble it.
- Add cooked spaghetti and bean sprouts.
- Season with ketchup, light and dark soy sauce and salt and pepper.
- Add in tomatoes, toss everything together for a couple of minutes before serving.

Bon appétit!

Carrot Walnut Cake

Bonjour,

It's a walnut season and our neighbors's has a huge walnut tree in their garden and they give us way to many walnuts and it may takes a while for us to finish it. Thanks to Martine and Jean-Marc for being so kind and generous. Since walnut are in season here, and I'm thinking to make more cake with walnut in it.

This carrot walnut cake recipe I found on the internet is one of the cake that I baked recently. Mon mari loves carrot cake and this cake is certainly perfect for him. For some cakes just like this carrot walnut cake, I've just made a half quantity of the recipe because we are only two at home and these cake I can even give to our neighbour to taste it. I received a positive comments and everyone loved the cake.

CARROT WALNUT CAKE

Ingredients;

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
3 eggs
3/4 cups buttermilk
3/4 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanila extract
2 cup shredded carrots
1 cup walnuts
1 cup coconut flaked
1 cup crushed pineapple with little bit of juice

METHOD;

- Preheat oven 170° and prepare baking pan. Set aside
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanila extract.
- Add flour mixture and mix well.
- Add in carrots, walnuts, coconut and pineapple. Mix until everything well combined.
- Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until skewer test comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely and spread or layer with cream cheese frosting and decorate with walnuts if desired.

Happy baking!

Orange Glazed Cake

Salut,

Orange glazed cake, this is the last miniute cake that I made before we going back to the city last Sunday afternoon. I still had some orange left over in the fridge and I think orange cake would be a great way to make them and at the same time I could bring these cake to work.

I have made orange cake with another recipe before but the basic recipe is the same. The only different I didn't put the orange sugar glaze on. By adding glaze on top would make this cake more tender and moist.

ORANGE GLAZED CAKE

Ingredients;

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 3 orange)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanila extract or orange extract
2 tablespoon orange zest

For the glaze;
1/2 cup sugar
3-4 tablespoon fresh orange juice

METHOD;

- Preheat oven 175° and prapared a small medium cake pan. set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and sugar. Set aside.
- In another bowl, mix together egg, milk, orange juice, melted butter, vanila and orange zest.
- Slowly add the dry ingredient and whisk until combined.
- Pour the batter in cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the skewer test comes out clean.
- While the cake is still hot, prapare the glaze by mix sugar and orange juice and bring to boil for a minute or two.
- Once the cake are still warm, use a skewer to gently prick the top.
- Drizzly the orange syrup all over the cake and let the cake to cool completely before serving.

Enjoy the orange cake!

Thai-Style Prawn Vegetables Salad

Sawasdee kha,

Nowadays, weekends for me are more spending time on cooking and baking because our works need us to be in the city and most of the time we stay there during the weekdays and coming home for the weekend. Saying that, our weekends are only the time for us to indulge, rest, go anywhere for brocante and eating anything we want.

We ate out for dinner everywhere on weekdays and some dish that I've tried in restaurant inspired me to create some of my own. My simple version of salad dish, it just something simple and easy to make. There is no specific measurement and particular ingredients in this recipe, just add what I want and what I had in my kitchen.

THAI-STYLE PRAWN VEGETABLES SALAD

Ingredients;

Cooked prawns
Cabbage or lettuce salad
Red onion
Cherry toamatoes
Red big chilli
Coriander leaves
Mint leaves
Lime juice
Thai fish sauce
Brown sugar

METHOD;

- Slice the salad, red onion, cheery tomatoes, chilli and mix all ingredients together and taste with fish sauce and brown sugar. as simple as that.

Nyonya Prawn Sambal

Hello,

Prawn sambal or sambal udang in Malay is a prawn cooked in chilli paste, another common and popular dish is certain country in Asia. The basic sambal prawn ingredients are almost the same, the only different is the recipe. I've try this Nyonya prawn sambal recipe and let's be honest, it tasted so good! Everything about the balance of taste, spicy, sour, salty and a little bit sweet, it's just perfect for me.

Cooking these Nyonya prawn sambal is easier than it looks, with only few ingredients, we will have a good dish for lunch or dinner. I loves Peranakan or Baba-Nyonya food and this small Chinese community in Peninsular Malaysia has their own unique culture and great food.

NYONYA PRAWN SAMBAL

Ingredients;

300g prawns
10-15 dry chilli, soak in hot water until soft
4 shallot
1 cloves garlic
1 lemongrass, take the white part only
1/4 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 tablespoon tamarind paste, mix with 1/2 cup water
1/4 oil
Salt sugar to taste

METHOD:

- Blend chilli, shallot, garlic, lemongrass and shrimp paste into a fine paste.
- Heat up oil and fry the chilli paste over the low heat until the oil separates, around 5-10 minutes.
- Add tamarind juice and season with salt and sugar.
- Simmer until the sauce are slightly thick and add prawns.
- Stir and adjust seasoning if necessary and continue to boil until the prawns are cooked.

Enjoy the prawn dish!